Back to SOA Social Justice and Black Lives Matter Task Force

ACCOUNTABILITY | COMMUNITY | DIVERSITY & INCLUSION | FUNDING | POLICE

About: The Task Force on Social Justice and Black Lives Matter is responsible for identifying, promoting, developing, and educating on antiracist and social justice resources, efforts, and actions for the Society of Ohio Archivists Council, committees, and membership. The Task Force members contribute online resources about social justice problems in communities, police departments, funding for social justice matters, accountability in the legal system, and resources about diversity and inclusion of underepresented groups. The resources are reviewed and updated by the Task Force every 3-4 months. Download a PDF version.

COMMUNITY

Resources about specific cities, neighborhoods, and communities.

“Find Alternatives to Calling the Columbus Police Department,” Don’t Call the Police
https://dontcallthepolice.com/columbus/

“Documenting the Lives and Experiences of Black People,” Anchorage Museum
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/blia_archiving_black_lives
Watch the replay featuring panelists Ja-Zette Marshburn, archivist at the National Museum of African American History & Culture; Dr. Joni J. Floyd, curator of Maryland & Historical Collections at the University of Maryland; Meredith R. Evans, Ph D, director of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum; Angela Rodgers Koukoui, Outreach and Public Services coordinator for the University of Baltimore; and, moderated by Celeste Hodge Growden, president & CEO of Alaska Black Caucus.

Black Lives Matter
https://blacklivesmatter.com/
#BlackLivesMatter was founded in 2013 in response to the acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s murderer. Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. is a global organization in the US, UK, and Canada, whose mission is to eradicate white supremacy and build local power to intervene in violence inflicted on Black communities by the state and vigilantes. By combating and countering acts of violence, creating space for Black imagination and innovation, and centering Black joy, we are winning immediate improvements in our lives.

“Black Lives Matter” Statement, Greater Columbus Arts Council
https://www.gcac.org/blog/black-lives-matter/

“George Floyd Protests in Columbus, Ohio,” Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Floyd_protests_in_Columbus,_Ohio

“The 2020 Black Lives Matter Protests in Columbus,” Columbus Alive
By Andy Downing, December 28, 2020
https://www.columbusalive.com/story/entertainment/human-interest/2020/12/28/2020-black-lives-matter-protests-in-columbus/115229800/

POLICE

Resources about conduct, officer training, choke hold bans, mental health, etc.

“Reformist Reforms vs. Abolitionist Steps in Policing,” Critical Resistance
http://criticalresistance.org/abolish-policing/cr_nocops_reform_vs_abolition_rev2020/

“Reforming Police,” American Civil Liberties Union
https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police

“Chokeholds, Brain Injuries, Beatings: When School Cops Go Bad,” Mother Jones
By Jaeah Lee,  July 14, 2015
This now six-years-old article discusses chokeholds and injuries and police conduct in schools, as of the year 2015. Between 2010 and 2015, at least 28 students were seriously injured—and one killed.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/07/police-school-resource-officers-k-12-misconduct-violence/

Transforming the Police: Thirteen Key Reforms – book
Edited by Charles M. Katz, Arizona State University and Edward R. Maguire, Arizona State University
Waveland Press, Long Grove, IL, 2020
Preview on Google Books: https://www.google.com/books/edition/Transforming_the_Police/QrHRDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
Abstract: Policing in the United States is at a crossroads; decisions made at this juncture are crucial. With the emergence of evidence-based policing, police leaders can draw on research when making choices about how to police their communities. Who will design the path forward and what will be the new standards for policing? This book brings together two qualified groups to lead the discussion: academics and experienced police professionals. The School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University recruited faculty with expertise in policing and police research. This volume draws on that expertise to examine 13 specific areas in policing. Each chapter presents an issue and provides background before reviewing the available research on potential solutions and recommending specific reform measures. Response essays written by a current or former police leader follow each chapter and reflect on the recommendations in the chapter.

FUNDING

Resources about reallocated funds from police forces and military towards public transportation, libraries, education, social work, and the Black community.

“What Does Defund the Police Mean?” TheGuardian.com,
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/05/defunding-the-police-us-what-does-it-mean

“These US Cities Defunded Police: ‘We’re Transferring Money to the Community’,” TheGuardian.com,
By Sam Levin in Los Angeles, March 11, 2021
Tagline: “More than 20 major cities have reduced police budgets in some form, and activists are fighting to ensure that is only the start.” This article focuses on police defunding in Austin, Texas which has cut $20 million from the police department and moved $80 million from the agency by shifting services outside of law enforcement.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/07/us-cities-defund-police-transferring-money-community

“Freedom to Thrive: Reimagining Safety & Security in Our Communities,” The Center for Popular Democracy
Created by The Center for Popular Democracy, Law for Black Lives, and the Black Youth Project 100. This report was written by Kate Hamaji and Kumar Rao of the Center for Popular Democracy, Marbre Stahly-Butts of Law for Black Lives, and Janaé Bonsu, Charlene Carruthers, Roselyn Berry, and Denzel McCampbell of BYP100, in collaboration with 27 local organizations around the country.
From the Executive Summary: This report examines racial disparities, policing landscapes, and budgets in twelve jurisdictions across the country, comparing the city and county spending priorities with those of community organizations and their members. While many community members, supported by research and established best practices, assert that increased spending on police do not make them safer, cities and counties continue to rely overwhelmingly on policing and incarceration spending while under-resourcing less damaging, more fair, and more effective safety initiatives. Each profile also highlights current or prospective campaigns that seek to divest resources away from police and prisons towards communities and their development. We call this the invest/divest framework. We also offer a “Budget 101” to help readers understand some of the terms reflected in this report, and provide a general framework of budget analysis and advocacy.
https://www.populardemocracy.org/news/publications/freedom-thrive-reimagining-safety-security-our-communities

ACCOUNTABILITY

Resources about racial disparity in the criminal-legal system, arrests, convictions, and sentencing.

Broken On All Sides: Race, Mass Incarceration & New Visions for Criminal Justice in the U.S. – documentary
By Matthew Pillischer, 2012.
Films For Action
https://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/broken-on-all-sides/

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness – book
By Michelle Alexander, 2010.
https://newjimcrow.com/

13TH – documentary
By Ava DuVernay, 2016.
Explores the history of race and the criminal justice system in the United States.
View full feature: https://youtu.be/krfcq5pF8u8
Review/interview: “Documentary ’13TH’ Argues Mass Incarceration Is An Extension Of Slavery,” NPR
https://www.npr.org/2016/12/17/505996792/documentary-13th-argues-mass-incarceration-is-an-extension-of-slavery

“How to Actually Fix America’s Police,” The Atlantic
By Seth W. Stoughton, Jeffrey J. Noble, and Geoffrey P. Alpert, June 3, 2020
Tagline: Elected officials need to do more than throw good reform dollars at bad agencies.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/how-actually-fix-americas-police/612520/

Police Scorecard
From the website: The Police Scorecard is the first nationwide public evaluation of policing in the United States. The Scorecard calculates levels of police violence, accountability, racial bias and other policing outcomes for over 16,000 municipal and county law enforcement agencies, covering nearly 100% of the US population. The indicators included in this scorecard were selected based on a review of the research literature, input from activists and experts in the field, and a review of publicly available datasets on policing from federal, state, and local agencies. This project is designed to help communities, researchers, police leaders and policy-makers take data-informed action to reduce police use of force, increase accountability and reimagine public safety in their jurisdictions.
https://policescorecard.org/

DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

Resources about initiatives

“Addressing Descriptive Language in Collections Care” – webinar recording
Hosted by the Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts, aired 3/4/2022
Speaker: Kara Vetter, Director of Cultural Resources, The Museum of Us
Focused discussion on the language used in Content Management Systems (CMS) to describe objects and collections and suggestions for how to revise it to reduce underlying colonial perspectives.
https://youtu.be/m-4W0_HwEfE

“Beyond Diversity,” The Atlantic
https://www.theatlantic.com/projects/beyond-diversity/

v.1 November 16, 2021
v.2 August 25, 2022

Last Updated on December 12, 2023 by Emily Gainer